13.08.2007

One down one up

One man was seriously injured last week in Salem, New Hampshire, USA, after he fell six metres when the scissor lift he was working from tipped over and crashed to the ground.

His colleague felt the machine begin to ‘go’ and jumped for the roof of the building they were working on and pulled himself to safety.

The accident occurred at 16 Pelham Road, where the men were working on a 60,000sq ft gymnasium building. The Workout Club & Wellness Center, a Southern New Hampshire chain, is constructing its latest facility at the site, including multiple swimming pools and 20,000 sq ft of exercise equipment.

The man, whose identity was not released, was listed in serious condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

The two workers were sanding an exterior wall near a corner of the roof at the rear of the building. The man who escaped to safety, Mensur Ramic, 21, said that the sanding equipment he and his co-worker were using made the scissor lift they were standing on rock back and forth.

"We started to sand the Styrofoam. It always goes back a little bit," said Ramic, a subcontractor. "This time, it went back a little bit more. I was scared and I jumped up. I thought it was going to come back, but then I turned and saw it go."

A shirtless Ramic clenched his arms to the steel edges of the building and pulled himself up. He saw clouds of dust and his co-worker climb out of from the platform after it hit the ground.

Salem firefighters transported the injured man to Caritas Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass. He was then airlifted to Beth Israel.

According to Paul LeVasseur, the project superintendent, he didn't know the worker who fell, noting that subcontractors regularly come and go from the work site as different stages of the building are completed. He criticised the condition of the lift, which was brought in by the subcontracting company.


"That thing is old enough to vote," LeVasseur said of the lift. "I'm 75 years old and I've never had anything like this happen before."

He said he believes the accident happened as a result of mechanical failure.
the unit was fitted with some form of stabilisers.